Biblical Allusion

A biblical allusion is a very quick or indirect reference to something in the Bible, such as a particular scripture, character or story. In the three poems, On His Blindness by John Milton, Journey of the Magi by T. S. Eliot, and The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats, biblical allusion is uniquely employed. In this paper, we will be discussing how each poem articulates the allusion in respect to its overall themes; irony, contemporary, and traditional. In the poem On His Blindness, John Milton looks to the bible for answers. John Milton was a Puritan and was famous for writing Christian poems. Later on in his life he got side tract with politics and then went blind. In the first part of the poem, Milton explains what he is going through

The poem is about several men who go on this long, hard and difficult journey. Throughout the journey, these men become fewer men and have to face the difficulties of letting go. At the end of the poem, the men realize that in order to gain something you must lose something. They also realized that being on this journey changed their point of view and returning home to their people was uncomfortable because they were not the same. In that being said the overall theme of this poem is changing ones world view and is contrasted with biblical allusions in the entire poem. This journey is very similar to journeys in the bible in the sense that the journey is rough mentally and physically. Also, almost the entire bible gives advice and stories to change ones view in the world around them which leads us back to the contemporary aspect. In today’s world, almost everything you see and hear is made to make you think differently and question things, a lot like the bible has been doing for many years and is still doing. In conclusion, this poem gives a biblical allusion in contrast with the theme throughout every line and word of the

The overall theme of the poem is Irony and is conveyed from several biblical allusions. The poem talks about the end of the Christian era but also the second coming of Christ himself. In the New Testament, Christ is supposed to come again at the end of the world and give salvation to the faithful. While this may seem good, the poem is actually talking about those unfortunate people who fall into the new western social order and will not receive salvation. Yeats talks about how the world is becoming corrupted and destroyed with politics and government. Realistically, being involved in the government and loosing site of God is put in a very ironic and bad way in the poem. Something evil is coming (biblical allusion) and most people will suffer from that evil without even knowing it